I Won't Last a Day Without You
by 0Warrior0Maiden0
Summary: Anakin is gone, how will Padmé last a day without him? Focusing on Padmé's feelings after Anakin becomes Darth Vader.
1. Coruscant

I miss him.

It was the only thought in her head. It had been that way since he had left. Why this time though? Was it the pregnancy? Or was there something wrong? She didn't usually miss him like this.

"Miss Padmé? You have a visitor." Threepio's fussy voice broke into her thoughts and she started slightly.

"Who is it Threepio?" She glanced down at her stomach; it was obvious. She had hidden her pregnancy for so long, but this gown was comfortable, not one designed to hide her condition.

"Jedi Master Kenobi." Obi-Wan? What was he doing here?

"Very well. I'll see him."

She had considered telling Obi-Wan about her pregnancy, but Anakin had said they shouldn't. He wasn't here now, he was on Mustafar, and hopefully he was alright. Force, how she missed him.

"Obi-Wan!" She smiled and moved forwards to greet her friend.

"Padmé! It's good to see you." There was something different in Obi-Wan that Padmé couldn't quite put her finger on. He seemed tired and sad, yet agitated and uncomfortable at the same time. "I need to find Anakin. When was the last time you saw him?"

"Yesterday." She was afraid now. What was wrong that Obi-Wan was looking for Anakin?

Why couldn't he find him without asking her?

"Do you know where he is?"

"No" Why did she feel the need to lie? Obi-Wan was her friend, wasn't he? He was Anakin's friend, wasn't he?

"Padmé, I need your help. He is in grave danger?"

Danger! Alarm bells were screaming in her head. She could barely think.

"From the Sith?"

Obi-Wan paused, swallowed. What was he afraid to tell her? What had happened?

Was Anakin alright?

"From himself." Obi-Wan paused again, whatever it was he had come to tell her, he was about to tell her. She was afraid and suddenly glad she had lied, though Obi-Wan had apparently sensed the lie. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she felt no comfort from the gesture, "Padmé, Anakin has turned to the Dark side."

NO!

"You're wrong! How can you even say that?" Why did her voice sound so hollow? Why wasn't she laughing as if it were some poor joke? Why was she so afraid?

"I have seen," Obi-Wan walked past her, no longer looking at her, she span on the spot watching him; tears gathering in her eyes. "A security Hologram of him ... killing younglings." Obi-Wan's voice shook slightly as he finished, but not as much as Padmé's as she spoke words she desperately wanted to believe, but couldn't.

"Not Anakin" The words did little to comfort her and her next words were spoken at a whisper as she tried to control the tears behind her eyes. "He couldn't"

"He was deceived by a lie, we all were!" Obi-Wan turned back to face her, his eyes telling her how empty her words were. "It appears the Chancellor was behind everything! Even the war!"  
The war? How could that be? Palpatine was on their side! "Palpatine is the Sith Lord we've been looking for."  
The Sith that the Chosen One was supposed to destroy. "After the death of Count Dooku Anakin became his new apprentice"

That long ago? She had lost him that long ago? No! She had not lost him! Anakin would never turn to the Dark side!  
"I don't believe you!" She turned away, towards the sofa; she didn't feel well enough to stand anymore. "I can't." Again the whisper was to convince herself. But the whisper was the truth! Anakin loved her! He would come back; he always came back!

Obi-Wan moved over and sat on the sofa beside her. "Padmé, I _must_ find him!"

She couldn't think; her thoughts were so loud. He couldn't, he couldn't. The japor necklace he had given her so long ago was heavy around her neck.

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?" Ice. There was ice in her heart. She was terrified. She was alone.

"He has become a very great threat"

No. He's still Anakin. He's still my Anakin. "I can't"

Obi-Wan stood and turned to leave. My Anakin. The thought echoed through her mind. "Anakin's the father. Isn't he?" Obi-Wan's kind voice needed no reply and she cast her head down, tears finally sliding down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry." Then he was gone.


	2. Mustafar

Mustafar.

He had said he would be here. He had said to wait for him. She couldn't wait. The fear was eating her heart. What if Obi-Wan had told her the truth? And her heart told her he had.

Fire burned all around on this planet. A stark contrast to the ice in her heart. It looked like hell; she flying into hell, in more ways than one.

Threepio put the ship down and a cloaked figure appeared on a walkway ahead of her.

Anakin.

The sight of him usually calmed her. Made her feel safe. Happy. Not now. Now the knot in her gut's only twisted tighter.

She pushed herself out of the pilot's seat and raced to meet him. He would tell her the truth. He would calm her fears.

She rushed into his arms and held him tight. She wanted to hide; to push the world away.

"I saw your ship. What are you doing here?" She let him pull her away.

"I was so afraid. Obi-Wan told me terrible things" She was safe now. She was with Anakin.

"What things?" So why was she still afraid?

"That you turned to the Dark side. That you killed younglings" The tears were returning.

"Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me" That would make sense. That would explain why he'd said those things.

But no! Obi-Wan was their friend! "He cares about us"

"Us?" The word was quiet. Dangerous. It scared her more than anything Obi-Wan had said.

"He knows." She paused. Then her training kicked in and she was trying to save the situation. "He wants to help you" Not the truth exactly, but Obi-Wan was his friend, she reasoned, he would want to help rather than kill if he could!  
Anakin smiled. He was laughing. He didn't believe her. "Anakin, all I want is your love."

He was suddenly serious again. "Love won't save you Padmé. Only my new powers can do that"

New powers? No! Anakin! "At what cost? You're a good person, don't do this!" She was still fighting. The tears forgotten; not yet falling.

"I won't lose you the way I lost my mother." She remembered that. His anger. She had been afraid. She was terrified now though. "I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed. And I'm doing it for you. To protect you."

Anakin. Something inside was dying."Come away with me, help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can!"

"Don't you see?" No, she didn't! Why was he doing this? Why was he hurting her? "We don't have to run away anymore! I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Chancellor; I- I can over throw him! And together you and I can rule the galaxy! Make things the way we want them to be!" What was he thinking? Was he thinking? This wasn't Anakin, not the Anakin she knew. He was grinning; there was something feral in that grin. Something that told her he wouldn't distinguish between friend and foe if they were in his way.

"I don't believe what I'm hearing" She was backing away. Afraid, afraid of her husband! "Obi-Wan was right; you've changed!"

He looked away. Then he was staring at her again. She trembled under his unforgiving glare. "I don't want to hear any more about Obi-Wan." A warning? He was warning her? "The Jedi turned against me! Don't you turn against me!" Anger. Directed at her! Her heart shattered.

"I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart. You're going down a path I can't follow." Her breath was coming in gasps now. She was sobbing.

"Because of Obi-Wan?"

"Because of what you've done, what you plan to do."  
Anakin  
"Stop."  
Anakin  
"Stop now."  
Anakin  
"Come back."  
Anakin  
"I love you"

"Liar!" The world faded and the word echoed through her mind.

"No!" Obi-Wan. He was on her ship. He had tricked her.

"You're with him!"

"No!" He wasn't listening anymore. He hadn't been listening for a long time.

"You brought him here to kill me!" No! He thought she had betrayed him. His angel. She loved him. She would never.

She couldn't breathe. She was drowning in pain. Her heart was broken.

She couldn't breathe! Anakin! He was choking her!

"Let her go Anakin!"

"Anakin." His eyes were yellow. They held no love or mercy. She died a little more as the child in her belly kicked.

"Let her go!"

Darkness.


	3. Polis Massa

Brightness. It hurt her eyes.

A shadow fell across her. Anakin? Then she remembered. And the pain returned.

"Obi-Wan? Is Anakin alright?" There was no answer. She didn't need one. She knew.

Anakin was not alright. He would never be alright again.

Darkness.

Anakin? Anakin Where are you? I need you!

The pain shot through her again. She needed him. She was afraid. She was dying. She was alone.

No. Not alone. Obi-Wan was with her.

Pain. The child was coming. Anakin should have been with her. Not Obi-Wan. Anakin was the father.

Pain. What did Anakin want to call the child? They hadn't really talked about names.

Pain. He had mentioned one. The only time she had brought the subject up. Leia. If it was a girl she would name it that. It was what Anakin wanted.

Pain. But what if it was a boy? What would she call it then? Anakin had never mentioned any boy's names. She didn't know what he would have wanted!

Pain.

And a cry! A tiny cry wailing in protest.

A boy. "Luke" Obi-Wan took the baby as it was passed to him and brought him close to her. Her son. "Oh Luke"

Pain. What? But the child was born! The pain should have stopped!

Pain. And another cry. Another? Twins?

"It's a girl." Obi-Wan didn't seem surprised. He had known? And he hadn't told her?

"Leia"

Anakin. He was gone. He'd never see his children.

"Obi-Wan. There's still good in him." Why was she still hanging on to this? "I know.." not even she believed it anymore. "I know there's still..."

Anakin I love ...


End file.
